Police: Dayton mother leaves children home alone in dirty house to go to casino

by Rhonda Moore and Christina Schaefer

Rasheena Smith. (Montgomery County Jail)

DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF/WRGT) - A Dayton woman has been arrested for child endangering after police say she left her children alone in a home without working heat -- to go to a casino.

Officers were called just after 1 a.m. Tuesday by a neighbor. The neighbor said Rashena Smith, 29, came to his door to get her ID card and told him she was going to the casino. According to a police report, when the neighbor asked where her children were, he said she told him they were inside the home asleep. The neighbor told police he then asked Smith about the heat in the house. The neighbor said the home's heat wasn't working. He told officers Smith replied that she'd left the oven on with the door open to heat the house. After hearing that, the neighbor told her he would call police if she left, but he said she decided to go anyway.

Dayton police found Smith at the Hollywood Dayton Casino. When officers saw her they reported she was with friends and appeared to be drunk. Police say Smith admitted to leaving her children, who are just 2 and 8 years old, at home alone. Officers took Smith back to her home on Riverview Avenue where they found her children asleep on a deflated air mattress. Police say the home was dirty with clothes, dust and debris laying around. They also found the stove was open and turned on high; the burners were also on and "red hot," police said. Officers also say the there was no food inside the refrigerator and it was too dirty to store food in.

"As a mother I wouldn't leave my two children home like that and not by themselves with an oven on. I wouldn't do it," neighbor Marvenia Stevenson said.

Smith has a third child, an 11-year-old, who police say ran away several weeks ago. Police say Smith never reported it. The 11-year-old was found to be living down the street with a neighbor. All three of the children are now being cared for by Montgomery County Children's Services. Court records show Smith is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, Nov. 15.

Neighbors told FOX 45's Rhonda Moore the 29-year-old mother has left her kids home by themselves several times before, and some said they're glad she's behind bars.